EVIL Within 2 could dethrone Resident Evil 7 as king of the horror games when it releases on October 13.

Just when it looked like Resident Evil 7 was a shoo-in for this year's scariest horror game, Bethesda went and announced Evil Within 2 at E3.

Picking up where the original left off, players step into the shoes of Detective Sebastian Castellanos (well, former Detective), as he explores another twisted world of hideous creatures, grotesque monsters and murderous psychopaths.

Hunting for a daughter long believed to be dead, we joined the former Detective for a nightmarish jaunt through a suitably creepy City Hall setting that's been taken over by an artist whose photographic exhibitions all revolve around death.

To ensure you don't wind up like the rest of Stefano Valentini's exhibits, you're going to have to delve deeper and deeper into City Hall and battle the monster that lurks within.

But holster those guns for the time being, because whereas the original game had more shootouts than John Wayne movie, Evil Within 2 feels like it's geared towards the scares rather than the guns.

Evil Within 2 PS4, Xbox One screenshots

Mon, September 25, 2017

EVIL Within 2 is shaping up to be one of this year's scariest horror games.

Your pursuit of Valentini will test your nerves far more than it will test your trigger finger.

Whether it's a room full of fleshy sculptures or the classic message scrawled in blood, this entire section is a relentless nightmare from which you can't awaken.

When you turn around to investigate that loud banging noise behind you, there's no guarantee the world won't have twisted, warped and transformed when you pluck up the courage to turn back.

It also contains one of my favourite puzzles, as you decorate a mannequin with jewels and a dress, before taking its picture. It's not the most taxing of brain teasers, but it is unsettling and a good way of encouraging players to really soak in the environment for clues.

It all comes to a head when you finally track down Valentini and battle a gruesomely freakish creation that will haunt your dreams - even the way it moans is horrible.

This entire section is so effective because each scare is designed to drag players forwards, even when it looks like the only way to go is back.

You're a puppet and Tango Gameworks is pulling the strings, guiding you from scare to scare with every crash, bang and bloody message written on the walls.

This is why it's worrying to hear Tango Gameworks talk about giving players more freedom by introducing larger maps that you're free to explore.

Game director John Johanas addressed these concerns when we spoke to him at the Tokyo Game Show, telling Express Online that despite a more open ended approach, you won't ever feel completely safe.

"It was actually intentionally to not have the suffocating feeling of the original game, because we too thought that it was a little too much and we wanted people to have a little break," Johanas said.

"But we wanted to keep that little bit of dread and that little bit of tension so that when you're exploring you don't feel completely safe."

Based on the City Hall section, Evil Within 2 is more than capable of smothering and suffocating players when it wants to.

In fact, this is shaping up to be this year's scariest horror game when it releases on Friday, October 13 for PS4, Xbox One and PC.